The Light in the Dark
by Sea Chelle
Summary: AU: The world is ruled by Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Ginny finds herself pulled into a world of Dark Magic and has to fake her identity to stay alive. But someone is there to help her...but can she trust him? D/G


(Disclaimer: I own nothing.)

(Author's Note: This story is an Alternate Reality – not in the way of J.K.R.'s imaginary world.)

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The Light in the Dark

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She looked around, blinking rapidly to release the hold the haze had on her. Slowly, it became subdued and finally faded away. Her gaze flickered around the exotic room. Candles were lit and cast haunting black shadows that danced on the walls. Outside it was dark and the only light was that emanating from the candles. They let of the sweet aroma of vanilla and lavender – comfort and trust. 

A shiver ran up her spine as she faced forward in her chair. She gasped in surprise. Someone sat adjacent from her seat and was watching her intently. He put his finger beneath her chin and tilted it upwards so their eyes were level. Inside, she felt a stir of emotion and a wave of confusion wash over her. What was this feeling? It was as if something was awakening inside her.

She was afraid.

Suddenly she was lost in his eyes. Before she knew it, she found herself falling…falling…and their lips met in a brilliant clash of light. She opened her eyes in shock and he was looking at her with those deep emerald eyes…

~*~

She gasped and sat up. Her heart was racing and she looked around. All was quiet in the household and she just sat there, staring straight ahead. Her lips still tingled with a fierce electricity that wouldn't rid itself, and she didn't want it to. Inside, she felt warm, as if she would never be cold again. She pictured the kiss and tried to lock it away, forever in her memory. 

But she was frightened. She didn't even know who this mystery man was. She almost cried in nostalgia…she longed for the past…yet it wasn't reality. Slowly, she lied back down and shivered under the covers.

But it was not from the cold.

~*~

"Oh, come on, Gin!" she heard a voice groan as if from a distance. Blinking an eye open, she spotted her brother Ron looking at her in exasperation. "We're going to be late if you don't get up!" Ginny swatted at him and mumbled something incoherently. "Come _on_, Ginny! We'll just leave you behind then, fine with you?"

She pulled the covers off herself in irritation and sat up. "Gosh, I'm up! I'm up!" she exclaimed and he left, grinning. "Bloody little…" she murmured. Once again, her dream came to mind. In somewhat of a daze she got dressed and thought about her reverie. She walked downstairs and saw her mum come in with a frying pan on which bacon was sizzling. 

Breakfast was mostly the same, but today she was going to school. She dreaded it with all her heart, yet her parents insisted that education was important for her future.

Ever since the World War that ended just two years ago, the world had been a wreck. Groups in Europe with extreme beliefs of wrong and right had waged riots and rebellions against one another so excessive that soon, a war broke out. The side of the Dark, led by a powerful half-man whom everyone called Lord Voldemort, had fought to have a despotism where their lord would rule above all else. The side of Light, however, without a ruler, fought to preserve free will and all that was right. Most theologists said that it was really a fight of good against evil. It seemed to everyone that the Light was holding the Dark at bay, and soon they would win, but that was not how everything turned out. With a last powerful force, the side of the Dark overpowered the side of the Light and won the war.

Ginny had lost her two older brothers in the war, Bill and Charlie. Her brothers who were twins, Fred and George, had suddenly disappeared during the middle of the war when they were still children at the age of eleven. It seemed as if they had vanished off the face of the earth. Percy, older than the twins and younger than Billy and Charlie, was working at a local store, helping to support those left in the Weasley family for Mr. Weasley too had disappeared, apparently looking for his long lost sons. 

Currently the Dark side still ruled with Lord Voldemort in control. Any leaders or patriotic persons of the Light were prosecuted. Anyone on the side of the Dark was called a Death Eater, and superficially, everyone seemed to be on that side. However, there were still those that held the morals of the Light though they had to hide or masquerade as a Death Eater. The prosecution of followers of the Light was still in effect. Muggles as well were getting prosecuted, though most found ways of hiding. Many of them were prejudiced against witches and wizards and avoided them as much as they possibly could. There was a place, which was said to be neutral with Muggles and wizards alike living together in peace, but those were just said to be tales. To most of the Light, it was better for them to pose as Muggles rather than pretend to be of the Dark. 

"Every one have their things?" wondered Mrs. Weasley when everyone had finished eating. When they gave her their assent, she said, "Better get them, the cab will be here any moment." As if on cue, the doorbell rang and she opened it. Her nod told the driver that they'd be out in a moment and she helped the children get their things. 

Ron and Harry were the first through the door, muttering to one another about something discussed between only the best of friends – and maybe something not discussed at all. Ginny followed and looked behind her at her home. It was sad to leave it again. After years of living in it so long, two years apart just wasn't enough to make her lose her love of it. 'Home sweet home' was a maxim that hit too close for her liking. She waited for her mother to come out and then closed the door behind them. 

In the taxi, there was complete silence. The radio played no sound and even the wind seemed quiet when the windows were rolled down. A feeling of grief seemed to hover over everyone sending a fog to muffle emotion. There seemed to be nothing left.

They soon arrived before Mesomeh High School. Ron and Harry were seniors and next year, they would be graduating. As much as Ginny hated school, she wished that this year would pass by more slowly so she could cherish the last year she had with her brother and Harry. Next year, she would be alone.

Ginny sighed and walked behind Ron and Harry. Ron, on hearing her sigh, turned around to look at her. Her gaze was set upon the letters of their school and he immediately dispatched himself from Harry's side and took her hand in his. The restrained tears almost fell from Ginny's eyes. 

"It'll be okay, Gin," he said softly. "Just don't let them catch you." As he added this, his voice had taken an edge of warning.

She nodded and looked away. "Of course I won't," she said, her voice trembling slightly.

He shared a look with Harry and then turned back to her. She looked at him and he forced a smile, hugging her to him. "I'll protect you, I won't let them get you," he whispered in her ear. This time a tear fell from her cheek and Ron wiped it away and kissed where it had been. "Come on." 

She couldn't help but smile. That was Ron – idle older brother, protective, loving, and caring. Ginny knew that she could confide anything in him and he wouldn't judge her. She loved him more than anyone else and trusted him indubitably. 

They entered the school and as soon as Ginny stepped through the doors, she knew that she was getting into something over her head.

~*~*~

Ron and Harry accompanied her to her locker. They then went with her to her classroom to make sure she was okay on her first day. She smiled at them gratefully. "Thanks, guys, I'll be fine, I was just – nervous is all I guess," she told them.

Ron smiled and hugged her. "Just come to me if anything's wrong, okay?" She nodded and he turned and left.

Harry hung back for a moment, looking at her closely, and then he gave her one of his rare smiles. "Don't be afraid, Ginny," he said in a low tone so only she could hear. She nodded and blushed slightly. He then left. 

She had always had an infatuation with Harry, ever since the first day she had met him actually. During the old days, he and Ron were still going to the old school called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He had come over that summer of their first year and she knew that her brother and this new boy would be best friends. They just seemed to click that way and she was happy for Ron, he deserved someone he could be friends with. It was lucky Harry and Ron had found one another at such a time for it was after the median of the war and things were getting rougher. Hogwarts was closed down in their third year when the number of students started to dwindle and teachers started to go into hiding. The last straw was when the school itself was attacked. 

Harry's regular living conditions were rough already for lived with Muggles that hated him with a passion. Something had torn his family apart when he was a baby and that was the extent of his past that anyone knew. The truth of it lay with Ron and was otherwise the deepest and darkest secret that Harry Potter had. Once Hogwarts was shut down, Mrs. Weasley couldn't stand him being so far away and living with his awful Aunt and Uncle. She offered him a place at the Weasley household and he accepted. His conscience, however, wouldn't hold. He decided to have a summer job and take regular fees out of his bank account in Gringotts. When Gringotts closed down, he took his whole inheritance out and offered it to Mrs. Weasley, but she wouldn't take it. Instead, she kept it inside a secret safe underground for him. She was prideful, but he knew she couldn't support the family on only Percy's income and her own small one as a waitress. So, habitually he would secretly place an amount into her wallet. 

Ginny noticed this, but never said a word. She admired Harry for his morality and his kindness. All who knew him could see that look of a lost boy within the emerald sea of his eyes and she respected him all the more for being so brave in the midst of all the terror and destruction. 

She took her seat in the third row and sat down. After a few minutes, the bell rang. Her teacher, Mr. Henshaw, stood up from behind his desk with cold eyes, the mark of an early Death Eater upon the inside flesh of his forearm. Ginny involuntarily swallowed. No one else knew what it was, and she doubted any one of them could fight the spell cast in the room to avoid them asking about its particular glow. 

"My name is Mr. Henshaw, I'm your AP Calculus teacher. Any questions," he asked. His voice held a tone of control and his fierce expression seemed as if it could freeze someone on the spot. A hand slowly came into the air. "Yes?" Ginny turned around in her seat to look at who had dared to ask the first question of the school year.

He had straight dark brown hair that came a bit over his eyes and every few seconds, he'd brush it back. "Where'd you get that tattoo on your arm, Mr. Henshaw?" asked the young man. Ginny's eyes widened and she looked to the teacher whose lips slowly curved into a smile. 

"My tattoo? It's not a tattoo, boy, it's a brand."

There was a puzzled and tense silence. "A brand?" asked the boy dumbly. Now Ginny was sure he wasn't right in the mind.

"Yes. It-," but he immediately cut himself off when the door banged open. In came a woman with straight blond hair that came down to her waist. She would be beautiful if her gray blue eyes weren't so cold and if her expression would brighten some. 

"Mr. Henshaw," she said. She stepped closer to him and said something to him in a hushed tone so no one else could hear her speak. 

He nodded. "One moment please, class," he said and then followed her out of the room. The door closed behind them and Ginny could see his figure in the transparent part of the door. After a few moments, they both came back into the classroom. Mr. Henshaw looked around the room and caught the eye of the boy who asked the first question. "Ian McGreggor," he said in a frigid tone. Ginny froze in her seat and saw the boy look back at him somewhat hesitantly.

"Yes, sir?"

"Lauren O'Mally," he went on. "Chris Guin, Thomas Reynolds, Iosha Gramuld, and Ginny Walker." Ginny looked up at him with wide eyes. Walker was the alias last name she used. The name Weasley was common because of their pureblood line and their family would be easily tracked down if they didn't use their pen name. "All those I've called, please stand and follow Miss Avery." The blond woman nodded once to Mr. Henshaw and then led the way out the door. Trembling from head to toe, Ginny stood up and followed the rest out the door. She heard the slam behind her and felt as if she were walking down the hallway to her doom.

She was surprised when she walked into the auditorium to find that there were many students there as well. The room was nearly full. She walked down the isle, trying to find somewhere to sit when someone caught her sleeve. Jumping with alarm, she turned and sighed with relief when she saw it was Harry. Ron leaned over and looked at her worriedly. On seeing her frightened expression, he smiled reassuringly. 

"We've saved you a seat, just in case you came," he told her. She smiled shakily and squeezed her way to it. 

"What's going on?" she asked softly. Ron looked at Harry and they shared another one of their secret glances. 

"It's probably just an update on Reconstruction," he responded after a while in a guarded tone. She knew that he was hiding something, but didn't question it. If he concealed something from her, it was because he was trying to protect her. And even if he was, she didn't care, she trusted him and if he needed to hide something, she'd just go along with it. Reconstruction was the process in which the Prime Minister of England started for the fixing of the aftermath of the war. 

She nodded to Ron and looked around. The room was big and at the head of the room, on the stage, a panel of teachers sat. She looked beside her and saw that a young man about her age or a bit older was talking to someone beside him. 

He wore glamorous clothes for a high school student and there seemed to be something about him that seemed powerful. His dark clothes – black trousers and a gray sweater seemed to clash with his unusual pallor. What seemed to stand out about him as far as she could tell was his almost white blond hair. 

The young man, probably feeling eyes on him, turned in his seat to look at her. She blushed furiously in embarrassment. "I'm sorry," she muttered. Unexpectedly, he gave her a small smile. Then he turned back to his friend. In the slight breeze he left, she smelled the sweet scent of vanilla and lavender. It set a feeling of familiarity in her, but she couldn't place it so she pushed it to the back of her mind. 

~*~*~

__

I saw her walk in, she's the one – I just know it. There's an aura of power around her that draws me to her. I have the desire to touch her face, to speak to her, to run my fingers through her hair…but she can't know, not yet at least – no one can. 

Soon though, all can be revealed. I can feel it. Soon I'll be able to reveal the truth to her. If it the reality of her place is unveiled precipitously, then all will be lost and we will be in worse ruins than today. She is the one.

Her part in Destiny is one that overwhelms even me. I never thought it possible that someone could make such a difference, but now that I've seen her, I know she can do it. Ever since that day long ago, when I dreamed about her, when I kissed her…I haven't been able to get her out of my mind. I need her. She's the other half of me – my paramour_._

I love her.


End file.
